Automatic marking device for metal objects

ABSTRACT

A device for marking metal objects having a conveyor which carries the object to be marked to a marking station positioned between a marker assembly and a drive assembly. The marker assembly includes a housing in which are mounted a chase for holding a plurality of type dies and a block slidable in the housing which forcibly engages the chase by the action of a set screw acting through the block to maintain the desired force upon the chase and type. The marking assembly is connected to the frame of the device by an adjustment assembly which enables adjustment of the angle between the type dies and the preselected surface of the object to be marked. The drive assembly includes a rotating disc mounted in the frame of the device and adjustable in position along a line perpendicular to the line of travel of the objects to be marked past the marking station. The drive disc rotates against the object to be marked to rotate that object in the direction opposite to its direction of linear travel past the marking station to enable the placement of a plurality of marks on the surface of the object. A ring of urethane or other resilient material is mounted around the circumference of the drive disc, and a block of urethane or other resilient material is mounted in the marking assembly between the rear of the chase block and the adjusting screw to absorb partially and limit the forces and stresses applied to the object being marked by the interaction of the marking assembly and the drive assembly.

United States Patent Noble et a1.

[ Jan. 8, 1974 41 AUTOMATIC MARKING DEVICEFOR METAL OBJECTS [75]Inventors: Arthur J. Noble; Edwin W.

Speicher; Walter J. Speicher, all of Pittsburgh, Pa.

[73] Assignee: M. E. Cunningham Company,

lngomar, Pa.

[22] Filed: Jan. 14, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 217,820

[52] US. Cl 101/7, 101/40, 101/379 [51] Int. Cl B41f 17/20 [58] Field ofSearch 101/7, 8, 379

[56] 5' References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 639,959 12/1899 Becker101/379 2,346,174 4/1944 Malnar 10l/7 X 1,960,870 5/1934 Engstrom..101/7 1,892,545 12/1932 Wardm'... 101/7 2,703,047 3/1955 Scherer et a1101/8 3,411,437 11/1968 Targosh 101/7 X 2,316,517 4/1943 Huntley et a1.lOl/7 1,981,892 11/1934 Zi rnb er et a1. 10l/8 Primary Examiner-RobertE. Pulfrey Assistant Examiner-Clifford D. Crowder Attorney-Stanley J.Price, Jr.

[57] ABSTRACT A device for marking metal objects having a conveyor whichcarries the object to be marked to a marking station positioned betweena marker assembly and a drive assembly. The marker assembly includes ahousing in which are mounted a chase for holding a plurality of typedies and a block slidable in the housing which forcibly engages thechase by the action of a set screw acting through the block to maintainthe desired force upon the chase and type. The marking assembly isconnected to the frame of the device by an adjustment assembly whichenables adjustment of the angle between the type dies and thepreselected surface of the object to be marked. The drive assemblyincludes a rotating disc mounted in the frame of the device andadjustable in position along a line perpendicular to the line of travelof the objects to be marked past the marking station. The drive discrotates against the object to be marked to rotate that object in thedirection opposite to its direction of linear travel past the markingstation to enable the placement of a plurality of marks on the surfaceof the object. A ring of urethane or other resilient material is mountedaround the circumference of the drive disc, and a block of urethane orother resilient material is mounted in the marking assembly between the,rear of the chase block and the adjusting screw to absorb partially andlimit the forces and stresses applied to the object being marked by theinteraction of the marking assembly and the drive assembly.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures AUTOMATIC MARKING DEVICE FOR METAL OBJECTSBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 17 Field of the Invention Thisinventionrelates to marking devices for solid objects and, more particularly,pertains to devices for marking by indentation the surface of cans,aerosol containers, bottle tops or other metal objects.

2. Description of the Prior Art There are known and described in the artseveral types of automatic marking devices for marking, by indentationof the metal surface, a succession of cans, aerosol containers, bottlecaps and similar containers. Such marking devices can process and markup to several hundred containers a minute while placing on eachcontainer a reasonably legible mark of up to five or six characters.

Not uncommonly, however, the passage of an oversized, or otherwiseirregular or damaged container, through the marking device results indamage to'the container, impairment of the integrity of the mark, orinterruption of the continuous automatic operation of the markingdevice.

A particularly-efficient marking device provides a container conveyorpassing between a stationary marking assembly and a rotating drive discwhich rotates each container opposite to its direction of linear travelagainst the marking device, thereby imprinting on a surface of thecontainer a five or six character mark while enabling the processing ofseveral hundred containers per minute.

Thereis a need for a high speed automatic metal marking device employinga stationary set of marking dies coacting with a rotating drive disc andcapable of compensating for variations in container size due to damagedcontainers or oversized containers. It is also desirable to provide anautomatic metal marking device which can be adjusted for variations insize or configuration of certain container dimensions.

SUMMARY OF Til-IE INVENTION The-marking device for metal objects of thisinvention includes a frame having mounted thereon, opposite each other,a drive assembly and a marking assembly which includes a set of typedies forcibly urged against the preselected surface of the metal objectto be marked. The marking assembly is mounted on the frame of the deviceby an adjustable mounting assembly operable to adjust the angle andorientation of the marking assembly and type dies relative to thepreselected surface to be marked. The drive assembly includes a rotatingdisc adjustable transverse to the line of travel of the object to bemarked and operable to rotate that object in the direction opposite thedirection of linear travelof the object to effect the placement of aseries of marks on the object. The drive disc has a resilientcircumferential member to engage the surface of the meta] object, andthe marking means has a resilient member behind the marking dies, bothresilient members being operable to reduce the force and stress imposedon the object by the marking device in operation and to yieldsufficiently to permit continuous effective operation with damaged oroversized metal objects.

It is an object of this invention to provide a continuous metal markingdevice having a plurality of stationary type dies and driven by arotating disc capable of accommodating and adjusting for variations insize and configuration exhibited by damaged or oversized objects withoutinterruption of the continuous high speed operation.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an automatic metalmarking device capable of marking, in a metal surface, a field ofcharacters of from six to nine, or more, legible characters.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide an automaticmetal marking device having a marking assembly that is adjustablethrough a substantial vertical angle relative to the marking station toprovide effective adjustment of the marking assembly for variations inthe configuration and orientation of the mark ing surfaces of differentcontainers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. l is a top plan view of the metalmarking device of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation and partially in section of theapparatus shown in FIG. 1 and showing the internal structure of themarking assembly and the structure of the marker adjusting assembly.

FIG. 3 is a partially fragmented top plan view of the marker assembly,with the cover plate removed, showing its internal structure.

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of the effective length of themarking station provided by a prior art marking device without theresilient marking and drive members.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic representation, partially in cross section, ofthe increased effective length of the marking station provided by themarking device of this invention including the resilient drive memberand the resilient marking member.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the drawings, the metalmarking device is referred to generally by reference numeraljgjhemetalobjects to be marked are shown in the drawings as a plurality ofmetal cans 12 for purposes of explanation. it should be understood thatthe marking device of this invention can be used for the marking of cansand other cylindrical metal containers, bottle caps and aerosol cans,and other metal objects such as metal oil filters.

The cans 12 are carried on a conveyor belt 14 between the spaced membersof a stationary frame 18 of the marking device lit). Each of the cansillustrated has a lower circumferential rim or chime 16. It has beenfound that marking by indentation of the chime can be done rapidly andeffectively without damage to the container.

A marking assembly, indicated generally by reference numeral 20, ismounted on the frame 18 of marking device 10 and includes a chase holder22 having a chase block receptacle 24 defined by the chase holder backmember 26, a base member 28, and opposing upstanding side members 30 and32. The chase holder 22 also has a depending bottom member 34 with amounting member 36 extending laterally therefrom.

A cover plate 38 is connected by suitable fasteners to the top surfacesof chase holder side members 30 and 32 and partially covers a chaseblock 40 which is slidably mounted in receptacle 24 on the upper surfaceof base member 28. The back member 26 of chase holder 22 has extendingtherethrough a bore 42 through which there extends a threaded adjustmentscrew 44 which is locked in position by a nut 46. A bearing plate 48 ismounted in receptacle 24 on the end of adjustment screw 44 in abuttingrelationship with the rearward portion or surface of a resilient block50. Resilient block 50 can have any configuration that is compatiblewith the other structural elements of the chase holder 22 and can beconstructed of any resilient material, one preferred material beingurethane. Resilient block 50 is mounted between adjustment screw bearingplate 48 and the rearward surface of chase block 40 for operation in amanner described more fully below.

A stop plate 62 is integral with the front end portions of chase holder22 and extends transversely across the lower front portion of recepticle24. An anvil 52 is formed by a recess in chase block 40 which provides atype chase receptacle 54 in which is mounted a type chase 56 containinga plurality of type dies 60. Type chase 56 is fixed in position by drivescrew 58 and is covered and protected by a chase cover 64 secured inposition by a cap screw 66. Chase cover 64 has an aperture 65 at thefront thereof through which extend the plurality of type dies 60.

The marker assembly adjusting assembly, indicated generally by referencenumeral 68, is mounted on frame 18 by suitable means such as bolt 69 andbore 71 and includes a tilt support 70 having a back member 72 integralwith a base member 74 having a bore 76 extending therethrough and spacedfrom the back member 72. A base adjusting screw 78 extends through basebore 76 and is locked in position by nut 80.

As is shown most clearly in FIG. 2, the chase holder 22 is mounted withits mounting member 36 substantially aligned with back member 72 of tiltsupport 70 and with the bottom surface of chase holder bottom member 34resting on the threaded end of base adjusting screw 78. Chase holdermounting member 36 has extending therethrough a lower adjusting bore 82and an upper adjusting bore 84 in which there are threadably secured,respectively, a lower adjusting screw 86 and an upper adjusting screw88. Lower adjusting screw 86 is locked in position by the single locknut 90, and upper adjusting screw 88 is locked in position by thecombination of spherical nut 94 and washer 92.

A shim, or tilt plate 96, is mounted between back support member 72 andchase holder mounting member 36 by suitable means such as a suitablefastener inserted through bore 98 in tilt plate 96 in alignment withbore 99 through the support back member 72. Tilt plate 96 can haveparallel sides or inclined sides and is replaceable. Tilt plate 96 isadjusted in combination with tilt support 70 and adjustment screws 78,86 and 88 as necessary in a particular use of the device of thisinvention in aligning marking assembly 20, and in particular the typedies 60, with the marking surface of can 12 or of another object to bemarked. Because of the flexibility of the adjusting assembly, andbecause of the adjustability of other structural elements of this devicewhich are described below, the marking device of this invention can beused to mark the surfaces of a wide variety of metal objects bothcylindrical and noncylindrical.

The marking device includes a drive assembly, indicated generally byreference numeral 100, which includes a drive disc 102 having an axialhub 104 extending upwardly therefrom. Drive disc 102 is connected'by hub104 to a suitable motor and power transmission means (not shown in thedrawings), the connection being made, for example, by connecting a driveshaft from the motor and transmission means in the hub bore 106 bymating a transmission shaft key in the key slot 108 of hub 104.

A disc cover 110 is connected to the table 122 of marking device 10 by aplurality of cap screws 114 which extend through mounting slots 112 indisc cover 110. Suitable structural members, not shown, connect thetable 122 to the frame 18. The mounting slots 112 are perpendicular tothe line of travel of cans 12 on conveyor 14. The elongate mountingslots 112 are parallel to an elongate hub slot 116 extending along anintermediate portion of disc cover 110. Disc hub 104 extends upwardlythrough hub slot 116 and operates as a guide member for drive disc 102during adjustment. Disc cover 110 also has a plurality of motor mountslots 118 spaced from, and parallel to, the longitudinal axis of hubslot 108.

As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, drive disc 102 is mounted in themarking device 10 in vertical spaced relationship with the bottomsurface of disc cover 110 and the upper surface of the table 122 offrame 18. The strutural members of the drive assembly are adjustableover a wide range of positions perpendicular to the line of travel ofcans 12 on conveyor 14. Cover plate is adjustable over a distancedetermined by the length of mounting slots 112. Drive disc 102 and theattached motor and power transmission means are adjustable,respectively, over the length of hub slot 116 and the length of motormount slots 118, thereby enabling the adjustment of the drive means andmarking device 10 to accommodate a substantial range of metal objectsregardless of their dimensions or configurations.

A ring 120 of resilient material is mounted around the circumference ofdrive disc 102 or engagement with the external surface of the object tobe marked. Resilient ring 120 can be composed of any resilient materialcompatible with the other structural members and operation of themarking device 10 and can be fabricated from a urethane resin, rubber orthe like. The urethane resin ring is preferred.

In operation, a can 12, or other metal object to be marked, is set inthe marking station between drive disc 102 with resilient ring 120 andthe type dies 60 of marking assembly 20. The angle between can 12 andmarking device assembly 20 is adjusted by operation of adjustingassembly 68 to accommodate the dimension and configuration of the chime16, or other surface to be marked. Drive assembly 100, including drivedisc 102, is adjusted to provide a force to can 12 sufficient to rotatecan 12 in a direction opposite to its direction of linear travel pasttype dies 60 with a force sufficient to mark the chime with a pluralityof legible die marks without damaging the metal surface. Because of theinteraction of the resilient block 50 and the resilient ring 120, it ispossible to obtain rapid continuous marking with clearly legible diemarks even with variations in diameter of the object to be marked of upto 1/32 of an inch, and more. That result is believed to follow from theshock absorbing action of the two resilient members.

Another advantage obtained from the marking device of this invention isexplained with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. It has been found that use ofthe marking device of this invention including the resilient ring 120 ondrive disc 102 and the resilient block 50 on the marking assembly 20enables the placement of a mark on a metal object of from six to ninecharacters, or more, which field of marking is a substantial increaseover the field available with devices prior to this invention.

It is believed that the increased effective marking field results fromuse of the resilient rim on drive disc 102, possibly in combination withthe resilient block in the marking means. In FIGS. 4 and 5, there aredepicted similar situations in that each device is shown as marking aplurality of cans 12 having identical diameters 124 with markingassembly 20 in identical fixed position. In FIG. 4, drive disc 102 hasno flexible circumferential ring and has a diameter showndiagrammatically as the diameter 126. In FIG. 5, drive disc 102 equippedwith resilient circumferential ring 120 has a larger diameter 128. As isillustrated in the drawings, with all other parameters being equal oridentical, the device of this invention provides an earlier time ofcontact between drive disc 102 and canl2 and a longer period of contactbetween the drive disc and the can, thereby providing a longer periodduring which an effective marking force is exerted between the driveassembly and the marking assembly. It is believed, also, thatthe pointcontact of the prior art device between the drive disc and the can isreplaced by an arc of contact between the urethane ring on the drivedisc and the outer surface of the can, thereby providing a wider area ofmarking force which is stabilized and maintained by the resilient ringas well as by the resilient block in the marker assembly.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, we have explainedthe principle, preferred construction and mode of operation of ourinvention and have illustrated and described what we now consider torepresent its best embodiment. However, it should be understood that,within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practicedotherwise than is specifically illustrated and described.

We claim: v v

1. A marking device for ametal object including,

metal marking means mounted adjacent a marking station'and having typemeans positioned substan tially coincident with a line of travel of apreselected outer surface of said metal object,

drive means mounted on a stationary table opposite said metal markingmeans, said drive means including a drive disc rotatably mounted on saidstationary table with said drive disc outer circumference substantiallytangent to 'a straight line of travel defined by said preselected outersurface of said metal object between said metal marking means and saiddrivedisc,

said drive disc operable to engage a portion of said preselected outersurface of said metal object-and move a portion of said outer surfaceinto engagement with said type means to mark said metal ob ject, v

a first resilient member including a ring of resilient material mountedon the circumference of said drive disc for engagement with said metalobject, said ring of resilient material operable to urge said metalobject into forcible engagement with said type means while partiallyabsorbing the force applied to said metal object,

adjusting means connected to said marking means and operable to adjustthe orientation of said metal marking means'and said type means relativeto said preselected outer surface of said metal object,

said adjusting means including other means to adjust the marking forceexerted by said type means on said preselected outer surface of saidmetal object,

a second resilient member positioned between said adjusting means andsaid type means, said second resilient member arranged to absorb aportion of the force exerted on said metal object during the markingoperation,

I a disc cover slidably mounted on said table in spaced relation to saiddisc. said disc cover adjustable along a line perpendicular to thestraight line of travel of saidmetal object,

said disc cover having an elongated slot extending along an intermediateportion thereof, and

a shaft extending from the center of said disc through said slot in saidcover and slidable along said slot.

2. A marking device for a metal object as set forth in claim 1 in whichsaid marking means includes,

a type chase holder mounted on said device adjacent said metal object tobe marked,

a chase block slidably mounted in said holder for movement toward andaway from said metal object to be marked,

a type chase mounted in said chase block and extending toward said metalobject to be marked,

a plurality of type dies mounted in said type chase adjacent said metalobject,

type adjustment means mounted in said holder to urge said chase blocktoward said metal object to be marked and maintain a desired markingpressure, and 1 said second resilient member mounted in said type chaseholder between said type adjustment means and said chase block, saidsecond resilient member arranged to absorb part of the force exerted bythe interaction between said drive disc and said metal marking means onsaid metal object.

3. A marking device for a metal object as set forth in claim 1 in whichsaid adjusting means includes,

a tilt support having a back member mounted on said table and a basemember extending outwardly from the lower end of said back member,

said base member having a threaded aperture therethrough and a baseadjusting screw extending through said aperture,

said marking means having a housing with a mounting plate aligned withsaid tilt support back memher, the bottom edge of said mounting platespaced from said tilt support base member and in abutting relation withsaid base adjusting screw,

said housing mounting plate having a pair of spaced bores extendingtherethrough toward said tilt support back member,

first and second adjustable set screws each threadably secured in one ofsaid mounting plate bores and extending therethrough, and

a tilt plate mounted between said housing mounting plate and said tiltsupport back member, said first and second set screws having endportionsabutting said tilt plate to-adjustably'maintain said markingmeans at a desired angle relative to said metal ob-

1. A marking device for a metal object including, metal marking meansmounted adjacent a marking station and having type means positionedsubstantially coincident with a line of travel of a preselected outersurface of said metal object, drive means mounted on a stationary tableopposite said metal marking means, said drive means including a drivedisc rotatably mounted on said stationary table with said drive discouter circumference substantially tangent to a straight line of traveldefined by said preselected outer surface of said metal object betweensaid metal marking means and said drive disc, said drive disc operableto engage a portion of said preselected outer surface of said metalobject and move a portion of said outer surface into engagement withsaid type means to mark said metal object, a first resilient memberincluding a ring of resilient material mounted on the circumference ofsaid drive disc for engagement with said metal object, said ring ofresilient material operable to urge said metal object into forcibleengagement with said type means while partially absorbing the forceapplied to said metal object, adjusting means connected to said markingmeans and operable to adjust the orientation of said metal marking meansand said type means relative to said preselected outer surface of saidmetal object, said adjusting means including other means to adjust themarking force exerted by said type means on said preselected outersurface of said metal object, a second resilient member positionedbetween said adjusting means and said type means, said second resilientmember arranged to absorb a portion of the force exerted on said metalobject during the marking operation, a disc cover slidably mounted onsaid table in spaced relation to said disc. said disc cover adjustablealong a line perpendicular to the straight line of travel of said metalobject, said disc cover having an elongated slot extending along anintermediate portion thereof, and a shaft extending from the center ofsaid disc through said slot in said cover and slidable along said slot.2. A marking device for a metal object as set forth in claim 1 in whichsaid marking means includes, a type chase holder mounted on said deviceadjacent said metal object to be marked, a chase block slidably mountedin said holder for movement toward and away from said metal object to bemarked, a type chase mounted in said chase block and extending towardsaid metal object to be marked, a plurality of type dies mounted in saidtype chase adjacent said metal object, type adjustment means mounted insaid holder to urge said chase block toward said metal object to bemarked and maintain a desired marking pressure, and said secondresilient member mounted in said type chase holder between said typeadjustment means and said chase block, said second resilient memberarranged to absorb part of the force exerted by the interaction betweensaid drive disc and said metal marking means on said metal object.
 3. Amarking device for a metal object as set forth in claim 1 in which saidadjusting means includes, a tilt support having a back member mounted onsaid table and a base member extending outwardly from the lower end ofsaid back member, said base member having a threaded aperturetherethrough and a base adjusting screw extending through said aperture,said marking means having a housing with a mounting plate aligned withsaid tilt support back member, the bottom edge of said mounting platespaced from said tilt support base member and in abutting relation withsaid base adjusting screw, said housing mounting plate having a pair ofspaced bores extending therethrough toward said tilt support backmember, first and second adjustable set screws each threadably securedin one of said mounting plate bores and extending therethrough, and atilt plate mounted between said housing mounting plate and said tiltsupport back member, said first and second set screws having endportions abutting said tilt plate to adjustably maintain said markingmeans at a desired angle relative to said metal object.